9-foot Arizona alligator on way to new home in Florida

Jan. 11, 2013
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Russ Johnson, president of the Phoenix Herpetological Society in Scottsdale, Ariz., answers a call Thursday before preparing Spike the alligator for relocation to Florida. / Charlie Leight, The Arizona Republic

"Spike has been a member of the PHS family, and we are going to miss him. But he has outgrown his enclosure here," society President Russ Johnson said.

On Thursday, Johnson, curator Dan Marchand and four others completed the dangerous assignment of moving Spike, who is 9 feet long, into a custom crate at the society's headquarters in north Scottsdale.

They are driving the alligator from Arizona to Florida, where Spike will reside in a preserve that officials did not identify. They'll meet his new caretakers in San Antonio, Texas. The handoff on land is happening because Spike is over the weight limit to fly, Johnson said.

"The temperature is perfect, there are two giant females waiting for him, so in the best interest of Spike, that is where he needs to go," Marchand told KSAZ-TV in Phoenix.

Because it's been cool in the Phoenix area - temperatures rose to only 60 degrees here Thursday, below the average for this time of year - the reptile didn't have a lot of fight in him when it came time for the crate.

Spike won't be tranquilized during the three-day move, even though his bite consists of 3,000 pounds of pressure. Now that he's in his crate, he won't have much room to move around, Johnson said.

Spike was rescued seven years ago when the Arizona Department of Public Safety stopped a trailer full of illegally owned animals. He then was turned in to the society, Johnson said.

The Phoenix Herpetological Society is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the rehabilitation of rescued animals and is home to 1,475 reptiles, many of them endangered. The society was founded in 2001 and operates on more than acres of land here.

For the herpetological society, Spike's move was necessary but bittersweet.

"We will miss him," Johnson said. "He was nice to work with, but he's moving to a so-much-nicer facility."